Majorwinter, week 2, Woodday.
“Greetings, Imperial Father!”
“Jcerniv. You are being impatient. This meeting shall not begin until Tilaramine is here as well”
“She’s dead, Imperial Father”
“Oh? We were certain she was alive when we called for a cease-fire”
“Regretfully, before that notice could be spread, she fell to some assassins”
While he said regretfully, we could tell he was elated. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. So we spoke to him in a soft, gentle tone, with a smile that didn’t fully reach our eyes.
“Well then. It seems that it is time for you to be informed of something. We proposed this competition between our progeny to find who was fit to be our successor, however, we knew that the apparent victor was not necessarily going to be the same as the person we decided was fit to be the next Emperor or Empress. Our top candidate was your sister, Tilaramine, as she held onto most of her allies without coercion even in the face of dire odds, and even when in a heavily disadvantageous position she found several new allies. Would you like to know our evaluation of you?”
“If your majesty would be so kind”
We stopped smiling when he spoke those insufferable, insincere, ingratiating words, and our voice became firm, betraying just a hint of the wrath we felt.
“You showed yourself to be unfit to an almost impressive degree, your retainers betraying you, you betraying your allies for mere momentary gains, and killing those who had surrendered to you instead of using them to bolster your own power and influence. You couldn’t have proven yourself to be a worse candidate if you had tried, unless you had gone out of your way to get yourself killed. Oh wait. You did. You are not going to inherit the Empire, you are going to be publicly executed”
“But, Imperial Father, there is nobody left of your bloodline but myself, I made certain of that”
This brat knows exactly how to irritate us. If we hear one more word from him, we might not be able to restrain ourselves from snapping his neck here and now.
“Oh, not quite. You have another few younger siblings, who had been raised in secret. Should one of our official sons or daughters become the heir, the secret scions would be brought in as ministers, secretaries, and other aides to the throne, trained from birth to be effective at their jobs and wholly loyal to whomever we designated as our heir. But should there be no worthy candidates, a few of them were trained to be the Emperor as well as their other planned positions, and would be brought out and designated as our heir”
Until Jcerniv is dead, we shall not be naming or unveiling any of our secret heir candidates. Even if he is locked up, his underlings might not be, and might be insane enough to attempt an assassination of the official crown prince.
"That is what shall happen now. You shall be executed, and your younger half brother, who might’ve been prime minister under your sister, shall be the next Emperor. You are not our son any longer, you are merely a foolish boy guilty of murdering royalty. Guards! Lock this man in the dungeon, and strip him of all his finery! He does not deserve to wear a single thread of gold or violet”
As we neared the end of what we had to say, we stood up and turned away, facing an ornate wooden door we left through, ignoring the pleas of a man condemned to an early end. He might’ve lived, should Tilaramine have chosen to spare him. We would’ve left his fate to her to decide, as her first act as Empress. But for now, we shall be announcing his execution on the first of Minorspring, and he shall die at noon on the first of Midspring.
Minorspring, week 4, Lightday.
My beloved returned to our residence just two days ago after being gone for most of Minorspring, informing me of the first prince’s execution planned for the first of Midspring, an event I absolutely could not miss. It wasn’t easy to enter the capital on the 28th of Minorspring, and as I was once a wanted person, I was worried that we would be stopped at the gates, but my beloved used his connections from his job to smuggle us in through a hidden passage.
Once inside, we made our way to the inner city ring, and set up a few chairs by the southern gate of the castle, where the prince was to be beheaded the following day. There were already hundreds of people waiting, so my lover and I drew only a small amount of attention when we sat through the evening and night, taking turns sleeping while the other kept watch.
In the morning, we could see that hundreds, if not thousands, of people had set up their chairs and were waiting, just as we were. We couldn’t see any unoccupied spots, even the roofs of the buildings behind us were covered in spectators as far as the eye could see. A few hours later, I realized that I was too short to see over the people in front of me, so I stood on my chair, at which point my head was barely poking out above the crowd. I was just in time to see a familiar man dressed in ornate black clothes and a simple black furred cape, both with gold trim, ascend the stairs onto the stage that had been erected behind the now-open gates of the castle, and he wasted no time before beginning to speak in a deep voice that, just by his own power, likely could be heard throughout the entire capital.
“Greetings, citizens of the Empire! We shouldn’t have to introduce ourselves, for we are the Emperor of this grand nation. So, let us get on with today’s event. We have the former First Prince Jcerniv, now just a man named Jcerniv, who is guilty of causing the deaths of over a dozen of the Empire’s princes and princesses, including the one he knew we had planned to make our heir, Princess Tilaramine. He did so despite being under orders to cease all hostile actions, and for the above crimes and also the crime of disobeying an imperial edict, he shall be executed. But before that happens, let us mourn, not for the loss of a man worth less than the stain his neck shall leave on our blade, but for the loss of the wisest and most capable princess this Empire has seen in centuries. Will the musicians come forth and play her favorite song?”
At the Emperor’s request, seven men and women dressed in all black stepped out of the shadows with a variety of instruments, and began to play a song I was all too familiar with, known best by the name of the girl its composer, Zun, made it for - her name was Remilia, so the song is known as Remilia Tēma.
While it was upbeat and slightly tinny, and absolutely didn’t fit the somber atmosphere normally associated with a moment of mourning, nobody thought anything of it, as the Emperor said it was the favorite song of the dead princess we were asked to mourn. Personally, I would’ve picked a different song, most people have enough songs they like that one of them would’ve almost certainly been more fitting for such an occasion, and a princess is no exception.
A few minutes later, the song was finished, the seven musicians stepped off the stage, and the Emperor said a few more words before he was rudely interrupted by the man bound hand and foot.
“Ahahaha! You hypocrite. You can say anything you want about her, that she’s wise, that she’s capable, beautiful, the one you planned to make your heir. But I figured out the truth. You never planned to make any of us your heirs, you just wanted to see us fight. You always wanted your secret child to become the next Emperor, and this is your excuse for getting all the other claims to the throne out of the way!”
“ARE YOU DONE?”
“Not even close! I-”
Just as Jcerniv interrupted the Emperor, the Emperor interrupted Jcerniv, but he did so by slapping the cackling bastard across the face hard enough that he spat out several teeth alongside a large amount of blood.
“Well too bad, we are done with your nonsense. If she were to show up in front of us tomorrow, alive and well, we would absolutely make her the crown princess, our hidden children were never intended to be anything more than backups who would have the know-how to assist whichever of our legitimate children became the next Emperor or Empress”
The Emperor drew a blade from his spatial ring, a violet greatsword both longer and wider than the Emperor himself. With one hand behind his back, he kicked Jcerniv’s knees to make him kneel, flourished the sword, and swung it upwards through his disowned son’s neck, cleanly separating his head from his shoulders. So clean was the cut that the headless corpse still moved for a few seconds, as though attempting to catch the head that slowly fell to the ground.
With another flourish, the Emperor flung the blood from his violet sword onto the ground, then stowed it away before descending the stairs behind the stage as the castle gates swung closed. As they did so, the woman standing beside me asked a simple question with a multitude of implications.
“Dear, do you not have anything to say?”
“Not here and now, but perhaps later and in a more private venue”
My response was simple and ambiguous, but my lover knew exactly what I meant.
Midspring, week 1, Fireday
As we were about to sit down for our midday meal, one of our footmen burst through the door, visibly agitated and panting as though he had run here from one of the gates at top speed.
“This had better be of the utmost importance. Speak”
“Your majesty... someone arrived at the northern gate. It’s... it’s princess Tilaramine!”
We couldn’t help it, we stood up with enough force to overturn the table. To think she was alive... no, this is an unverified report.
“We hope you can take responsibility for those words”
“Your majesty, we’ve already tested her blood. She’s definitely of imperial descent, and she looks just like the portrait of her in the grand hall. One of her guardian angels is with her too, perfectly matching the descriptions I’ve heard of the one known as Yuri”
“In that case, bring them here. We’ll see this for ourselves, and if she is Tilaramine, we’ll invite her and her guardian angel to eat with us”
About ten minutes later, two young buxom women entered the dining hall, one of them wearing a small black shawl around her neck that looked somewhat out of place, but even so, we immediately recognized both of them.
“Oh... Tilly... how glad we are to see that you’re alive. What happened? Why did you not show up until now?”
“It’s... a very long story, Imperial Father”
“Please, do tell us, and drop the formalities. But first, come, sit next to us, eat something. You must be hungry, right?”
And sat she did, electing not to eat, she just began narrating her experiences in the succession war. We, for the most part, already knew what she talked about, but we missed out on a few key details, namely the importance of her managing to recruit an alchemist by the name of Tama to her cause, an action which saved her life multiple times, and how after our decree arrived, the imperial guards who delivered the ceasefire notice to her led her and her guardian angels directly into a premeditated ambush, even joining in with those who ambushed her.
Our rage upon hearing that was overwhelming, and the spoon in our hand was crushed into powder without our noticing it. But we held back, allowing her to continue her story.
She then talked about all of the guardian angels that went with her sacrificing themselves so she could escape into the sewers, but she didn’t escape uninjured and lay dying from poison before that same alchemist found her and treated her, and stayed with her until the storm abated. He also helped her and her guardian angel flee the capital, as there were bounties on all three of their heads - and except for Tilly’s, those bounties were placed with the guards in addition to the Shadows Guild.
“But why not return earlier? If you were alive-”
“And come right into the heart of enemy territory? The capital was being ruled by Jcerniv. We didn’t know you were back or that he no longer held power until just a few days ago, when we heard about his upcoming execution. Even then we didn’t plan to try to come back so soon, we only decided to do so when you said you would make me the crown princess should we show up. We came back, not for the position, but because that indicated that it would be safe to do so at all”
“We understand your thinking now. It is a shame, but the important thing is that you are alive and well. Would you like to become the crown princess, then? We shall be leaving this realm for the Major Realm of Metal before the end of this year, so we’ll need to make preparations one way or the other”
We had no intention of letting her refuse easily, but it wouldn’t be impossible to make it work. So, we decided to allow her to choose, though we hoped she would accept the position readily.
“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to, but there’s not really a good alternative, so I suppose I’m willing to do so”
“Excellent. Now, we know you don’t have a fiance, but we can draw up a list of -”
“Father. I plan to marry Yuri”
To think... she was a lesbian... no, she’d been interested in several young men when she was in her 20s. She might be one who swings both ways, which works out better, given her duty to produce heirs.
“Well you’ll still need to carry on the imperial line. We could find a list of potential consorts you could bring in for that purpose, or-”
“I have a consort in mind as well”
“Well, where is this young man? We would like to meet him”
We got no response from either of the young women, but with a nod from Tilly, the shawl slid from her shoulders, rolled off of her breast, and landed gracefully on the floor where we could finally see that it was, in fact, a black cat. What startled us most, however, was the cat transforming into a young human girl - no, a somewhat feminine half-tabaxi - and our instinctive reaction was to punch the unfamiliar person who had snuck in and approached so close without announcing themselves, an instinct honed through a life of surviving countless assassination attempts.
Our punch, however, was enough to pulverize their entire upper body, turning them into a pair of legs falling down alongside a bloody mist. Realizing we might have just killed someone important to our daughter, we were about to apologize to Tilly when we noticed her and her guardian angel’s reactions - both of them just sighed and shrugged, as though they weren’t too concerned or surprised with what had just occurred.
“Oh dear, that wasn’t very nice of you, father”
“I suppose introductions will have to wait for a few more hours then”
“That is indeed unfortunate”
“Pardon? We just accidentally killed someone, thinking they might be an assassin, and you’re okay with it?”
Their calm banter indicated not that this wasn’t a person important to them, but that this person wasn’t dead, an idea quite hard to believe, but no alternative explanation came to mind. However, when we asked, the two women stubbornly refused to answer, though they also kept us from calling a servant to clean up the body. Instead, we ate our meal while chatting idly, before moving to our office, where they waited while we did some administrative work. What they were waiting for, we could not fathom, until about two hours later, when the door opened and the same half-tabaxi walked in.
“You know, that punch really hurt quite a bit. Tilly, your father has a mean left jab. But at least he turned me into mist, not scattered chunks of flesh. That would’ve taken quite a bit longer to recover from”
“You... how are you still alive?”
“I’m not entirely sure, maybe it has something to do with my Path?”
“Your path? You mean to tell us that you’re an immortal?”
“In the flesh. I know, I’m not exactly a young man like you were hoping to meet, but your daughter did ask me to help her carry on the imperial line, and I’ve developed some affection for her, so I’ll see what I can do there”
“You also don’t exactly look like a man right now, Tama”
The young girl - no, the immortal - looked down at herself, then chuckled a bit.
“Oh, sorry. Force of habit, I’ve been using this form for the last month or so. Give me a moment”
She disappeared from where she stood behind Tilly’s seat, and then in her place appeared a similar-looking young boy, fully human this time, but with the same basic facial structure, eye color, and hair, save for the white patch on his forehead.
“This is the form I’d been using as an alchemist. It’s still not my real form, but I am male, so there shouldn’t be any trouble in that department. By the way, today isn’t the first time we’ve met. You used to play with me when you were just a little boy, about a century and a half ago. You were quite fat as a baby, but could still climb trees better than a monkey”
“So, you’re at least as old as us, quite likely several times our age. Tilly knows, right? This isn’t the first she’s hearing of this?”
“First time I heard that you two had met, but I know how old he is, and much much more”
“If that is the case, we have no issues. Wed her in peace”
The empire could hardly hope to do better than to have the Empress marry a true immortal. I doubt he’s the one whose advancement a month or so ago caused the realm to shake, but he should still be one of the top ten or so most powerful beings in the Major Realm of Time. I can leave the Empire to her in peace, knowing that it's in good hands.
“Ah, now here’s the thing... we can’t exactly formally reveal my name or face. I’d have to be a sort of hidden consort, where my existence is known but nothing else. Let Yuri be Tilly’s public wife, and I’ll take on a much more shadowy role in her court”
“And why is that?”
“Because immortals are supposed to stay out of the political stage for mortal nations... and because I’d rather not have either of my main identities exposed. One is supposed to be dead or on the run, the other... well, let’s just say your instincts weren’t entirely wrong, as I am currently a blood silver shadow. Don’t worry, I intend to not take any requests from, for, or regarding members of the government or imperial family. I just thought you ought to know”
“Hmph. It’s not like we really have the ability to refuse your conditions, nor could we afford to reject you just due to your side job. Welcome to the family, both to you and to Yuri”
Wow, that wrapped up swift, wasn’t there something in previous chapters about not seeing Tilly for a long time? Also cookie
.
There was something about him expecting not to see her for anywhere from a few months to a few years, but he wasn't expecting that Jcerniv would be executed, he was expecting him to reign as emperor for a while. That bit of information kinda drastically changed things.